When you thought Trump couldn’t get dumber, he begins to talk about ‘shadow people’ and compared police shootings to golf. 🙈 Read about it at the Guardian.

According to Western intelligence agencies, Iran funds Hezbollah to the tune of €168m to €252m per year in cash outlays alone, an opinion piece in EU Observer says.

The Times of Israel writes about an Austrian-style law of return. It absurd that it’s been taking this long for a European country to welcome back its Holocaust survivors.

Andrius Kavaliunas and others in Science Direct:

“Many countries have both marvelled and criticized the Swedish strategy that is formed in a close partnership between the government and the society based on a mutual trust giving the responsibility to individuals. It already highlights how much can be achieved with voluntary measures (recommendations)—something that was noticed and proposed as a future model by the World Health Organization.”

To no surprise to anyone, German medical experts have found a Soviet-era poison in Kremlin-critic Alexei Navalny’s body. The message is clear, oppose Putin and he’ll get you a ☭ nerve agent. 😡 Read about it at Deutsche Welle.

So says the United Arab Emirate’s crown prince according to the Jerusalem Post. He’s right. And the Palestinian people suffer as a result of Abbas and his crew. Peace needs democracy.

I want to post a picture of how lovely it’s here in Spain tonight, but there’s a problem with my server that prevents me from publishing any images. Oh, well! You’ll have to take my word for it. It’s lovely.

שבת שלום

🇩🇪 5.7%
🇨🇿 8.9%
🇲🇹 9.1%
🇧🇬 9.4%
🇵🇱 9.5%
🇦🇹 10.3%
🇳🇱 11.0%
🇸🇮 11.2%
🇩🇰 12.2%
🇧🇪 13.0%
🇭🇺 15.2%
🇮🇪 16.0%
🇪🇺 17.0%
🇷🇴 17.4%
🇱🇻 17.6%
🇫🇷 19.7%
🇨🇾 19.8%
🇸🇰 19.8%
🇫🇮  20.6%
🇱🇹 23.1%
🇪🇪 23.2%
🇭🇷 24.0%
🇱🇺 26.0%
🇵🇹 26.3%
🇸🇪 28.9%
🇮🇹 31.1%
🇬🇷 37.5%
🇪🇸 41.7%

Jeffrey Goldberg in The Atlantic:

Trump’s understanding of heroism has not evolved since he became president. According to sources with knowledge of the president’s views, he seems to genuinely not understand why Americans treat former prisoners of war with respect. Nor does he understand why pilots who are shot down in combat are honored by the military. On at least two occasions since becoming president, according to three sources with direct knowledge of his views, Trump referred to former President George H. W. Bush as a “loser” for being shot down by the Japanese as a Navy pilot in World War II.

Charlie Weimers, MEP for the Nazi-founded Sweden Democrats, wants to outlaw the Antifa movement. The irony in far-right extremists wanting to criminalise far-left extremists is striking.

It’s time to keep track of these apps, MIT Technology Review writes. 👀 #spyonthespy

“There was surprise and anger on both sides of the Irish border and in Brussels at the reported British plan to undermine the withdrawal pact,” The Irish Times writes.

No, this shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone.

President of the European Commission tweets:

“Very concerned about announcements from the British government on its intentions to breach the Withdrawal Agreement. This would break international law and undermines trust. Pacta sunt servanda = the foundation of prosperous future relations.”

“A huge fire has broken out at Beirut’s port, triggering panic among residents traumatised by last month’s massive explosion there that killed and injured thousands of people,” the Guardian reports.

California is snuggling with the largest wildfire the state’s history, Los Angeles Times reports. It’s sad to see this magnificent part of America going up in flames.

“Boris Johnson is facing a revolt by up to 30 Tory MPs over plans that would break international law and allow him to renege on parts of his Brexit deal,” The Times writes. “The rebels have tabled an amendment that would bar the government from overriding the withdrawal agreement without parliament’s support.” 💂‍♂️ The drama!

Seen in the picture is a mosaic from the Dura-Europos Synagogue in Syria. It was destroyed by Islamic State terrorists a few years ago.

שבת שלום

The Guardian reports that the British prime minister says EU threatens Northern Ireland with a blockade if it upholds international law. ❌ Jeebus! #sad #clownpolitics #brexit

Great news from the Middle East. 👍🇧🇭 Read about it at The Times of Israel.

About 40% of Iranians identify as Muslim while 78% believe in God. Read about at The Conversation.

The Republican strategist Roger Stone says Trump should seize total power and jail opponents if he loses to Joe Biden in November, Martin Pengelly of the Guardian reports.

The Irish Times’s Chris Johns is right in his new column. It’s time to let Britain go and stop trying to please its irresponsible leadership.

I just read that Tiffany Trump is a former model. The Trump family’s ruining of the world order is one thing, but who can you trust when model agencies do a sloppy job? Beauty is one of few comforters in these days. 😢

In Sydsvenskan, Nina Björk expresses a wish to make the political left more socialist. Problem is that every time it’s done so, the so-called equality has resulted in poverty and oppression. When will people learn?

This after a group of drag queens rivals allegedly sent fake complaints claiming the bar hosted a kinky party, Pink News reports. 🤣

The scientists write about their findings at Nature Astronomy:

An ideal biosignature gas would be unambiguous. Living organisms should be its sole source, and it should have intrinsically strong, precisely characterized spectral transitions unblended with contaminant lines—criteria that are not usually all achievable. It was recently proposed that any phosphine (PH₃) detected in a rocky planet’s atmosphere is a promising sign of life.

Source: Worldometer.

Date	Daily Deaths	Change (#)	Change (%)
2020-09-14	4,374	420	11%
2020-09-13	3,954	−1,065	−21%
2020-09-12	5,019	−785	−14%
2020-09-11	5,804	−184	−3%
2020-09-10	5,988	−234	−4%
2020-09-09	6,222	1,744	39%
2020-09-08	4,478	630	16%
2020-09-07	3,848	−359	−9%
2020-09-06	4,207	−708	−14%
2020-09-05	4,915	−923	−16%
2020-09-04	5,838	−137	−2%
2020-09-03	5,975	−373	−6%
2020-09-02	6,348	426	7%
2020-09-01	5,922	1,692	40%
2020-08-31	4,230	−20	0%
2020-08-30	4,250	−1,118	−21%
2020-08-29	5,368	−377	−7%
2020-08-28	5,745	−360	−6%
2020-08-27	6,105	−287	−4%
2020-08-26	6,392	293	5%
2020-08-25	6,099	1,730	40%
2020-08-24	4,369	22	1%
2020-08-23	4,347	−1,060	−20%
2020-08-22	5,407	−718	−12%
2020-08-21	6,125	−130	−2%
2020-08-20	6,255	−491	−7%
2020-08-19	6,746	371	6%
2020-08-18	6,375	2,048	47%
2020-08-17	4,327	−261	−6%
2020-08-16	4,588	−932	−17%
2020-08-15	5,520	−508	−8%

“The campaign draws on the spam-like behavior of bots and trolls, with the same or similar language posted repeatedly across social media,” the Houston Chronicle reports. ❌

What the f**k!!! “Multiple women detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement alleged on Wednesday that a doctor unnecessarily removed their reproductive organs, corroborating earlier reports of sterilizations without consent on migrant women from a detention facility in Georgia,” Sanjana Karanth of Huffington Post reports.

“LGBTQI-free zones are humanity-free zones and have no place in our union,” Ursula von der Leyen told MEPs yesterday.

Source: Spain’s National Statistics Institute.

San Bartolomé de Tirajana
2019	53.443
2018	53.588
2017	53.542
2016	53.829
2015	54.932
2014	54.377
2013	56.698
2012	55.954
2011	54.613
2010	53.288

The new research must be a blow to Sweden’s far-right nationalists, who love the Viking culture. Now it’s revealed that the Vikings were mixed-race “globalists”. A real bummer, I’m sure. Read about it at Science X.

At sunset tonight, Rosh Hashana and the year 5781 begin. 🥂 ראש השנה!

A unique compensation for past homophobia, Cadena SER reports.

The next president of the United States tweets:

Let me be clear: LGBTQ+ rights are human rights—and “LGBT-free zones” have no place in the European Union or anywhere in the world.

Adam Kudyba on Twitter (my translation):

Catholic circles in Poland:

LGBT-youth suicides ➜ SNOOZE
Defining LGBT People as a “Rainbow plague” ➜ SNOOZE
The attempted bomb attack on the Equality March ➜ SNOOZE
Physical attacks in the name of Catholic values ➜ SNOOZE
Rainbow flag on Jesus statue ➜ REAL PROBLEM

Andrew Sullivan makes an interesting comparison between the US president and Shakespeare’s fictional Richard III—both has the face of a tyrant.

It begins tonight and goes on for twenty-five hours. No food. No coffee. Neither Internet not television. Let’s see if I’ll survives it.

But my blood sugar was too low for me to attend service at the synagogue tonight. Some chocolate after sunset saved me from going comatose.

“Nothing new is happening. It’s just happening faster.” Some think it’s great news, but personally, I fear a future without airlines. I live for travelling. 😧 Read about it at the Guardian.

I haven’t seen last night’s debate yet, but most commentators seem to agree with Matthew Walther. Worst. Presidential. Debate. Ever. 🤡 Can’t wait to see the circus.

Associated Press writes:

In the most tumultuous presidential debate in recent memory, Trump refused to condemn white supremacists who have supported him, telling one such group known as Proud Boys to “stand back, stand by.” There were also heated clashes over the president’s handling of the pandemic, the integrity of the election results, deeply personal attacks about Biden’s family and how the Supreme Court will shape the future of the nation’s health care.

But it was the belligerent tone that was persistent, somehow fitting for what has been an extraordinarily ugly campaign. The two men frequently talked over each other with Trump interrupting, nearly shouting, so often that Biden eventually snapped at him, “Will you shut up, man?”

And:

Again refusing to commit to honoring the results of the election, Trump spread falsehoods about mail voting. Without evidence, he suggested that the process—surging in popularity during the pandemic—was ripe for fraud and incorrectly claimed impropriety at a Pennsylvania voting site.